Who looks after the environment and how

Councils have one of the biggest jobs under the RMA. New Zealand currently has three types of councils:

• Eleven regional councils. Among other things, they manage the rivers, the air, the coast and soil – resources that are not usually owned by individuals.
• Sixty-one territorial authorities (11 city and 50 district councils). They do a lot of their work under the Local Government Act – like catching stray dogs, mowing rugby fields, removing abandoned cars and collecting your rubbish. But the RMA also requires them to look at the ways local people use land and how this can affect the environment: noise; new subdivisions and land development; plans to clear native bush or change historic buildings; or anything else that might affect what the community has agreed is important.
• Six unitary authorities. These do the jobs of both regional councils and territorial authorities.

The RMA also provides for the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to process applications for nationally significant proposals instead of local councils. These proposals might involve certain resource consent applications or requests to change a district plan, among other matters. The EPA processes the applications, while the actual decisions are made by a board of inquiry or the Environment Court. Under the RMA, the EPA can also have a role in compliance, monitoring and enforcement.

The other key players involved in looking after the environment are the Ministry for the Environment and the Department of Conservation.

• The Ministry advises the Government on environmental issues and helps the Minister for the Environment keep an eye on the way councils do their jobs under the RMA.
• The Department of Conservation and the Minister of Conservation have a particular role under the RMA to oversee the way the coastal environment is managed.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is an office with an overview of the way the environment is managed in New Zealand. The commissioner investigates emerging environmental issues and may also examine concerns raised by the public. The commissioner usually makes recommendations to the appropriate agency on how to improve its performance.